The Possibilities Are Endless • ReviewA remarkable story on recollecting a life

An immersive documentary about musician Edwyn Collins’ recovery from a stroke digs beauty out of tragedy

James Hall and Edward Lovelace’s documentary is about the post-stroke recovery of Edwyn Collins, the singer/songwriter who fronted the Scottish alt-rock band Orange Juice. There’s a disjointed beauty in this visualisation of a man struggling to recollect the facts of his life; a lot of power in the fight to rebuild the link between brain and location.

Hall and Lovelace have skirted the temptation to make a conventional documentary; instead they immerse us in the experience, as confusing and frightening as it is. They dig beauty out of tragedy without being too neat about it and have made a remarkable film. (Notes by Henry Barnes, The Guardian)

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Edwyn Collins suffered life-threatening cerebral haemorrhages in 2005, and lost the ability to talk. As he edged towards a recovery, the only words he could initially say were "yes" and "no", and "the possibilities are endless."

In this beautiful, heart-wrenching documentary, filmmakers James Hall and Edward Lovelace pay tribute to Collins’ strength of character, celebrate the love between him and his devoted, indomitable wife, Grace Maxwell, and attempt to convey what it must have been like for Edwyn following his illness, when his memory was essentially wiped.

Recollecting the facts of a life … Edwyn Collins in The Possibilities Are Endless

They do this by snatching archive from a glorious pop career, from the cocky jangle of Collins’ influential post-punk group Orange Juice through to his brilliant solo work that reaped rewards with the global hit that was A Girl Like You and by recreating sweet scenes with Edwyn’s son William playing Edwyn as a younger man. (Notes by Michael Hayden, Irish Film Institute)